Animal adaptation to global climate change

Guest Editors:
Muhammed Atamanalp: Atatürk University, Türkiye
Diane Colombelli-Négrel: Flinders University, Australia
Yudong Jia: Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, China

BMC New Content Item Zoology welcomed submissions to our Collection on animal adaptation to global climate change. This collection aimed to collate original research and narrative review articles addressing all aspects of animal adaptation to global climate change in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We hoped to better outline the impact of global climate change on animals’ life histories, to help achieve targets 14 and 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’ and ‘Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss’.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Muhammed Atamanalp: Atatürk University, Türkiye

Dr. Muhammed Atamanalp is a professor at Atatürk University Fisheries Faculty since 2009, with 90 SCI paper most of them on aquatic toxicology. He is a specialist in water pollution, fish physiology, and toxic effects of new synthesized compounds on aquatic organisms.

Diane Colombelli-Négrel: Flinders University, Australia

Dr Colombelli-Négrel is a lecturer in Animal behaviour at Flinders University. Her study systems span from songbirds to seabirds to which she applies multidisciplinary approaches to identify the ecological, physiological, and behavioural processes that influence animal response to environmental change, with a strong focus on mechanistic approaches.

Yudong Jia: Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, China

Dr. Jia's research focuses on marine fish reproductive biology and physiology. His current interests include: endocrine regulation of reproduction by the brain-pituitary-ovary axis; intra-follicular paracrine/autocrine communication network in the ovary and egg quality evaluation; marine fish breeding and rearing technology, and to understand the impacts of environmental factors (temperature, oxygen, water velocity, acidification) on fish reproduction, growth and behaviour performance.

About the collection

Climate change, caused primarily by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, has significantly altered the natural environment in which animals have evolved to live. As a result, many species are experiencing population declines and near extinction events due to the unprecedented speed and scale of these changes.

Recent studies, however, have revealed that some species are capable of adapting to these changing environmental conditions. These adaptations can take various forms, including alterations in behavior, physiology, or genetic makeup. For example, some animals may shift their migration patterns or change their diet to cope with changes in temperature or precipitation.

Despite these adaptive responses, the impact of global climate change on animal populations remains highly complex and not well understood. This is due, in part, to the fact that climate change simultaneously influences many aspects of an animal's life, including its habitat, food sources, and interactions with other species.

Furthermore, the ability of animals to adapt to changing conditions may be limited by factors such as genetic diversity, habitat fragmentation, and exposure to multiple stressors. Therefore, it is crucial to continue studying the effects of climate change on animal populations and to implement conservation measures to mitigate its impact on biodiversity

This collection aims to collate original research and narrative review articles addressing all aspects of animal adaptation to global climate change in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We hope to better outline the impact of global climate change on animals’ life histories, to help achieving targets 14 and 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’ and ‘Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss’.

Potential topics can include, but are not limited to, the following:

•   Animal behavior: shifting migration patterns; changing feeding habits; altering breeding cycles
•   Animal physiology: evolving larger or smaller body sizes; changes in metabolism; changes in reproductive patterns
•   Animal geography: moving to cooler or wetter areas; moving to higher elevations; competing against invasive species
•   Animal development: changing developmental rates; changes in sex determination; increase in sea water acidity; habitat suitability (moving to new areas which may be unfavorable for embryos)
•   Animal evolutionary genetics: development of new traits; selection for existing traits that confer advantages in new environmental conditions

Image credit: Soumadeep Das / Pexels

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of Research Articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select ["Animal adaptation to global climate change"] from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.